Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo The Bear Banjo is an anthropomorphic brown Malayan Sun Bear, also known as the Honey Bear, and one of the stars of Rare's Banjo-Kazooie series alongside Kazooie. He lives in Spiral Mountain on the Isle of Hags with his sister Tooty and best friend Kazooie (though Tooty disappears from the series with no explanation after the first game). Banjo has appeared in six games. His first appearance was in Diddy Kong Racing. Physical Appearance Banjo appearance has virtually unchanged since the first game in the series (though Banjo's shorts mysteriously get shorter between Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie). He has light-Brown fur, light-Blue eyes, Yellow shorts with a black belt, a shark tooth necklace, and a Blue Backpack that usually contains his friend Kazooie. Oddly, he always keeps the shorts and backpack, when he is transformed into one of Mumbo Jumbo or Humba Wumba's forms. In Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Banjo has been redesigned with a slightly blocking-like appearance and rendered fur. Rare states the redesign makes more sense. Personality Banjo is usually portrayed as an easy-going character. He would rather sleep than go on an adventure and is much more polite then his sidekick Kazooie, though the trouble she attracts usually ends up coming for him as well. He can also play the banjo and loves to swim and dance. Games ''Diddy Kong Racing'' Banjo first appears in Diddy Kong Racing as one of the playable characters. He is contacted by Diddy and Timber asking him to help free Timber's Island from the evil Wizpig. He is also a friend of the two. Compared to other racers, Banjo has high top speed, but also has below average handling and low acceleration. In Diddy Kong Racing DS, Banjo and Conker have been replaced by Tiny Kong and Dixie Kong. ''Banjo-Kazooie'' Banjo got his own adventure in Banjo-Kazooie. In this game he lives in a house in Spiral Mountain with his little sister Tooty, and friend Kazooie who lives inside his backpack. He also has a neighbor named Bottles the Mole. Gruntilda, who lives in her lair on the other side of spiral mountain, is jealous of Tooty because she is "The Fairest Of All", so she swoops in on her Broomstick and kidnaps her. Banjo and Kazooie head off and are able to save Tooty, with the help of numerous friends they met along the way. They push Gruntilda off the mountain, and she falls to the ground creating a Grunty shaped hole. A rock then falls in the hole, supposedly sealing her in forever. ''Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge'' Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge is the third game in the series but the second chronologically. Kazooie is kidnapped by Gruntilda Winkybunion, whose soul now inhabits a robotic body ("Mecha-Grunty"). Gruntilda travels back in time hoping to undo the events of Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo has to chase the duo back through time to get his pal back and stop Grunty from mucking around with history. In the end Grunty is defeated once again when her robotic body is destroyed and she is forced back underground. After beating they're archenemy once again, Banjo and Kazooie head home for some relaxation. ''Banjo-Tooie'' In the beginning of Banjo Tooie, Banjo is playing cards with Kazooie, Mumbo Jumbo, and Bottles the Mole. Unknown to them, Gruntilda's sisters had arrived and had revived his arch-enemy. Gruntilda is quick to take her Revenge, destroying Banjo's house and killing Bottles. Banjo and Kazooie set out to avenge him, and meet the King Jingaling, who tells them that he will help them defeat the witch. He shows them the way to Jiggywiggy's Temple, but is turned into a zombie by the witches for this deed. Meanwhile, Banjo and Kazooie reach the temple and talk to Jiggywiggy. He tells them that if they bring him Jiggies, he can activate the power of the Crystal Jiggy, and open pathways for them. Thus the duo start out on a quest to collect Jiggy's. Eventually Banjo collects enough to reach Gruntilda's castle, and make their way to the top. He takes control of the witches' Big 'O' Blaster (or BOB), and restore true life to Bottles and the Jinjo King. He then preceded to the roof for the final stand-off with Gruntilda. She is defeated yet again, and Banjo returns to Bottles House to celebrate with his friends. During the adventure, Banjo learns the ability Split-Up allowing him to go away from Kazooie. In his lone form he can learn the ability Pack-Whack, but cannot glide or shoot eggs. ''Banjo-Pilot'' Banjo gets his own racing title, Banjo Pilot, a game originally called Diddy Kong Pilot. Banjo is the main character and default racer of this game. ''Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts'' Banjo is again the main character in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts which is on the Xbox 360. Here he is competing with Gruntilda over who is the rightful owner of Spiral Mountain. Unlike the Nintendo 64 games, Banjo now builds different vehicles to help him get Jiggies (as they forgotten their abilities over the eight years distance, and since L.O.G. won't let them remember their moves). L.O.G. or the Lord of Games, is the one who introduced the vehicle deal, and he was the one to set up the match to determine who is to be the rightful owner of Spiral Mountain. Banjo Kazooie: Banjo's life of crime In this game for the Nintendo DS, Banjo plays the villain. He turns out to be a ruthless criminal and a bully. Players play as Banjo and must go around doing bad stuff such as stealing drugs and killing characters. Plot: One day, Banjo is fed up of being a protagonist and has a change of heart. He wants to be a villain. The player must play as Banjo and can freely go around places doing whatever they want. They can use Banjo to do inapropriate taunts, take drugs or drink alcohol or use guns to kill passers by. Completing levels rewards the players with new types of guns. In the end of the game, Mario stops Banjo doing bad things so Mario is the game's final boss. After defeating Mario, Banjo become a good guy again. However, the game was not sold in the UK due to violence and drug and alcohol taking. Other Games *Early beta screenshots of Donkey Kong 64 showed a shower stall in Donkey Kong's Treehouse with a poster of Banjo and Kazooie on it but it was removed from the final game. *In the beginning of the games Conker's Bad Fur Day and its remake Conker: Live & Reloaded Banjo cameos as a stuffed head mounted over a fireplace and Kazooie's on the back of an umbrella. *In the game Viva Piñata, a mountain with Banjo and Kazooie's faces can be seen. Also, a statue of Banjo and even Banjo's backpack can be purchased in the game. *A large amount of memorabilia depicting Banjo and several other Banjo-Kazooie series characters can be found in the game Grabbed by the Ghoulies. This memorabilia includes action figures, a Banjo-Kazooie game box and an Xbox box with depicting Banjo-Tooie can be found, even Banjo's pet fish, Roysten can be found in the game. *Banjo and Kazooie are playable in the Xbox 360 version of Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing. Gallery Artwork File:Banjo Car.png|Driving a car in Diddy Kong Racing File:Banjoflag.png|''Diddy Kong Racing'' File:BanjoRacing.png|''Diddy Kong Racing'' File:Banjobear.jpg|''Banjo-Tooie'' File:Banjo bear 05.png|''Banjo-Pilot'' File:Banjo bolts.png|''Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts'' Sprites File:DKRI.png|''Diddy Kong Racing'' File:BanjoBPMug.png|''Banjo-Pilot'' Kazooie The Bird Kazooie is one of the main characters in the Banjo-Kazooie series along side her friend Banjo. Usually she stays inside Banjo's backpack coming out to assist him throughout the game. Kazooie is known to be rude. Appearance Kazooie is a Red-Crested Breegull (a fictional species of bird). She has red-orange and yellow feathers, green eyes, long chicken like legs, and a sharp beak. A tuft of feathers on her head stick up resembling hair. In Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, she is redesigned with a more feminine looking appearance and is much skinnier. Games ''Banjo-Kazooie'' Kazooie's first appearance was in the game, Banjo-Kazooie, for the Nintendo 64. Here she lives in Spiral Mountain with Banjo (inside his backpack) until Banjo's little sister Tooty is kidnapped by Grunty the witch, Kazooie sets out with Banjo to save her (though Kazooie goes because she wants to go on an "adventure" rather than save Tooty). She is very rude and often insults or calls various characters names, especially Bottles whom she argues with throughout the game. She also gives sarcastic commentary on the events or situations in the game. However, without Kazooie a great deal of the game would be impossible. She uses her wings to help Banjo get to High places, can shoot Eggs, and can help him run faster. ''Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge'' In Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge (which is the third game in the series but second chronologically) Kazooie gets kidnapped at the start of the game by Gruntilda and Klungo who go back in time with her to change the past. Banjo (who used Mumbo's magic to follow Grunty to the past) must beat the game's first level without Kazooie but rescues her in the second level Breegull Beach after the boss fight there. Once saved, Kazooie assists Banjo from his backpack just like the other two games. ''Banjo-Tooie'' Kazooie was again a main character in Banjo-Tooie. She, along with Banjo, Bottles, and Mumbo Jumbo, are playing cards in the beginning of the game. In a way Kazooie was semi-responsible for Bottles death. When she realizes she is losing, she tricks him by saying that Gruntilda had returned. Thus, when Gruntilda actually DOES return, Bottles thinks it is a trick and stays in Banjo's house as the witch blows it up. Kazooie can finally get out of Banjo's backpack when he learns the move Split-Up. Interestingly, she will always be given less health than Banjo when she is out of his pack. She is also much faster, lighter and higher when she is out of the pack and she can hatch eggs. Her technique the wing whack can hit foes with her wings and when she moves or is in the air, she twirls with her wings out. Kazooie shows the least remorse about Bottles death, actually making a few wisecracks about it. She resumes her rivalry with Bottles via Drill Sergeant Jamjars, and often breaks the fourth wall "We'll have this game finished in no time". Gallery Artwork File:Kazooie.png|''Banjo-Tooie'' File:KazooiePilot.png|''Banjo-Pilot'' File:Banjo and Kazooie Artwork - Nuts & Bolts.png|''Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts'' Sprites File:KazooieBPmug.png|''Banjo-Pilot'' Trivia *Kazooie is mentioned in the game manual for Diddy Kong Racing, however she doesn't appear in the game itself. Category:Characters Category:Banjo-Kazooie universe